Storm damage less than expected

While the first storm of the season has deposited a lot of rain on the coast, damage and outages came in much lower than major storms of recent years, resulting in less difficulty than expected.

Pacific Gas & Electric spokeswoman Brittany McKannay said from Friday to Tuesday in Fort Bragg, 48 outages left 568 customers without power at various times over the weekend. Some sustained multiple outages.

In Mendocino, seven outages left 170 customers without power, she said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, eight customers were without power, due to an outage that morning, she said.

While the numbers seemed small, those for the wider region didn't. According to McKannay, 42,615 customers were affected by a total of 249 outages in the Humboldt, Lake and Mendocino county regions. Sonoma County was also hit hard, but power there has been restored.

McKannay said some crews were brought in to the area before the storm and area crews remained on call and ready when it hit. She said a lot of work goes into outage prevention before the storms, including the clearing and pruning of trees located near lines.

Some crews noted extended response times, due to flooding and accessibility issues.

"Sometimes we just have to wait out the elements to make repairs," she said.

A few small mud slides were evident Sunday east of James Creek along Highway 20, but for the most part, only leaves and branches laid on the roadway.

Caltrans spokesman Phil Frisbie said Highway 1 was closed at the Garcia River from noon Sunday to 5 p.m. Monday, due to flooding. Highway 128 was also closed 7 a.m. Sunday and reopened about 1 p.m. Monday. On Highway 20 between Fort Bragg and Willits, only a few reports of downed trees, he said, Caltrans and contracted crews cleared downed trees quickly, cleared drains and culverts and reopened traffic lanes.

Frisbie encouraged residents to check current road conditions by calling 1-800-GAS-ROAD or by logging on to www.dot.ca.gov.

Rainfall amounts are recorded each week on Page 6A.

Storms of seasons past

Here are some excerpts from previous storm-related stories in the Advocate-News and The Mendocino Beacon that illustrate what Coast residents face almost every winter.

January 2002

According to PG&E spokesman Lloyd Coker, six substations were reported out Tuesday morning, due to transmission problems they were repairing into the afternoon. As of press time, Coker predicted that most of the 12,000 customers who were out of power would have their service restored by Tuesday evening. Many of the outages were small in nature, affecting from one to 20 customers. The largest outage, in Caspar and Mendocino, left 2,300 without power Tuesday morning. About 566 customers were without electricity in the Summers Lane area, with another 180 out in the Sherwood Road area.

November 2002

Beginning at noon on Nov. 7, as many as 9,200 customers were affected in the Fort Bragg area. Outages reported in other areas were: 3,280 in Mendocino, 900 in Little River, 267 in Albion, 190 in Caspar, 435 in Comptche, five in Elk, and in the Manchester-Point Arena area, 23.

October 2004

According to Lloyd Coker, Pacific Gas & Electric spokesman, in the Little River-Albion area, 222 customers lost power at 3:53 a.m. Tuesday, and PG&E had it restored by 10 a.m. The outage was caused by trees falling on power lines. Rainfall since Sunday ranged from two inches in Little River to 2.65 inches in Westport. This storm pushed the area over one inch for the season thus far, putting the area ahead of the rainfall measure last year at the same time by about two inches.

December 2005

Fort Bragg Fire Department used its Zodiac boat Dec. 28 to rescue two adults and three kids when floodwaters surrounded their house. Residents of a home along the Ten Mile River called 911 to report that rising water had blocked the entry road and had breached the house. The home, normally accessible from the north side of the river, was found to be flooded up to its foundation, blocking the exit road.

On Dec. 29, the churning caramel-colored stream flowing through the [MacKerricher Beach] breach was more than four feet deep, and water filled park restrooms and topped picnic tables. The haul road is cleanly sliced on both sides with a small stream now bubbling through the new gap of about 20 feet.

The combination of extra high tides, thunderous storm waves and swollen creeks ripped a gash through the levee that has separated Lake Cleone and the Pacific Ocean for half a century.

"Nature is in charge at the moment," said Morgan Zeitler, visitor services superintendent with State Parks. "We have seawater intrusion into the lake. And the dune out there has been backing up the water, resulting in flooding to the road."

December 2007

Wind gusts in Mendocino registered as high as 92 mph in some places. A PG&E issued press release states repair crews faced high winds ranging between 55 and 75 miles per hour.

Beginning at about 1:30 a.m., Dec. 27, and through the night, most Coast residents were without power. Some, in downtown Fort Bragg, were restored as early as Wednesday dinnertime. Others, in less populated locations, waited until New Year's Day before hearing the familiar hum of their refrigerators.

January 2008

For the most part, all roads leading east from Highway 1 sustained severe damage, as falling trees took out power lines, utility poles and communication lines. Pacific Gas & Electric spokeswoman Jana Schuering said the county's coastal areas were hit the hardest, with power out to most, but not all customers.

A majority of customers were affected by damage caused to the three power transmission lines that supply the coast. PG&E brought crews from Kansas, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Montana to assist with repairs, she said. Other utility companies offered mutual aid services, she said. "The storm has caused more than 1,300,000, or about 20 percent, of the utility's electric customers to lose power since Friday morning with damages to roughly 40 miles of power lines and 105 poles," PG&E's website. "The hardest hit areas have been the coastal regions, including the North Coast, Humboldt County, Marin County, Peninsula and Santa Cruz mountains, and the Sierra Nevada region."

"Our crews have rebuilt enough power lines to stretch from San Francisco to San Diego," said Mark Johnson, vice president of electric operations. According to U.S. Coast Guard Master Chief Mike Saindon, wind gusts of up to 58 miles per hour were recorded at Noyo River Station, early Friday morning.